Trip Report 26 April to 17 May

Well we%26#39;ve now been back from our big Vegas trip for 3 weeks and finally the first half of our Trip Report is done.

Sorry it%26#39;s so long and will no doubt bore some with the descriptions of what we ate!

Will post first half as a reply to this and the rest in a few days time when its complete.

Trip Report 26 April to 17 May

Trip Report - - - T-1 Saturday 26 April

About us; packing; drive; airport hotel

Be warned this is going to be a long and detailed TR because those are the sort I love to read! Will post in 2 or 3 instalments.

We are a pair of Brits who’ve recently discovered a love for Las Vegas. I am M, aged 55 and my lovely wife A who has claimed to be 39 for the past few years (she’s actually 6 years younger than me). We live in Milton Keynes – a town about 60 miles north of London. We have no dependents (except for Ruby our beautiful cat) and our main interest is planning and going on exciting vacations. We like cruises; we love Florida but a few years ago I started to become interested in Las Vegas. Reading this forum only increased my enthusiasm and A agreed we could go on our once in a lifetime 2 week trip to Vegas. I got so obsessed planning that trip that A very nearly called the whole thing off! Well we went 2 years ago and had a fabulous time (only slightly marred by me needing a visit to Desert Springs hospital suffering from a particularly nasty kidney stone).

Guess what? Once in a lifetime is definitely not enough!! We had to go again as soon as we could afford to do it properly. Well we both decided that if we were going to be on a plane for all those hours at least 2 weeks’ vacation is required; and as we didn’t get to the Grand Canyon last time (and we don’t like small planes or helicopters) we would add a 2 night trip to the Grand Canyon. We then decided we didn’t want to drive back from GC and have to get straight on to our flight home so we had to add a couple more nights in Vegas to the end of the trip.

What do we like doing in Vegas? Well obviously gambling – we’re not high-rollers but we really enjoy spending a couple of hours every day playing the slots. Eating; we love the fact that we can eat in a different restaurant for every meal and can choose anything from junk food to gourmet and choose almost any nationality’s cuisine. And of course the shows – we would never attempt to see six shows in two weeks anywhere other than Vegas but they are all so good and so varied.

Normally when we go to America we fly Virgin from Gatwick but as we had left booking our flights a little late the cost with Virgin was far too high. We found a really good deal with American Airlines for flights from Stansted via JFK (the total for both of us return was £743). Also Stansted is a much more pleasant journey for us than Gatwick. As usual when we have a morning flight we decided to stay at an airport hotel the night before. We got a good package price for the Radisson SAS hotel which included 15 nights parking (£20 for an extra week). This Radisson is a nice modern hotel (we’ve stayed there once before). One unusual feature this hotel has is a wine tower in its lobby with gymnastic “wine angels” who fly up and down on ropes to fetch your bottle (not as big as the one at Aureole, Mandalay Bay but still pretty impressive).

Anyway Saturday morning we get our stuff packed into one large and one medium suitcase – we’re not taking a lot because with the favourable exchange rate we’re planning on buying a lot of clothes. Finally leave home at about 4:30pm. I’ve planned a route avoiding our terrible motorway system and we get to Stansted hotel at about 6:00pm. Room is quite nice and we watch TV and order some room service. Room service food is better than average and I have a Tapas plate (from their Spanish restaurant) and A has a proper Caesar salad (from their Italian restaurant). Early night as tomorrow will be a long day. 

Trip Report - - - Day 1 Sunday 27 April

Long flight; JFK; another long flight; magic show; no tunnel; here we are!; Polo Towers; NYNY

2 minutes walk from the hotel and we’re at the American Airlines check-in desk. Only had to queue a few minutes but then we hit our first problem. Our large case is too heavy and they want $50. OK I wonder would now be a good time to score a free or cheap upgrade to business class? Our check-in person calls over the business class person who after hitting the keyboard for about 10 minutes says we can be upgraded for the paltry sum of $1500! Each! And that’s only one way! We politely decline. We ask for our cases back so we can attempt some redistribution of weight. Too late, the cases have disappeared into the bowels of the airport. So with a cheerful smile we paid the extra $50. Apart from that, all the formalities went smoothly and we were checked in with plenty of time for breakfast at Starbucks. Buy some reading material then on to the plane.

The flights are both full and are long and boring. 7 hours to JFK (turn watch back 5 hours); 3 hours at JFK; 5 hours JFK to Vegas (turn watch back 3 hours). The best thing you can say about them is both stages took-off and landed on time. The hassle with collecting our luggage and rechecking for the JFK – LAS flight wasn’t too bad as the AA connections desk was only a few yards from the baggage claim.

One thing that made the JFK – LAS section interesting was the guy sitting next to us. While the plane was taxiing to the runway he took out a pack of cards and proceeded to do some very slick one handed cuts and shuffles. He then did this thing where the top card jumped from hand to hand. I was sitting right next to him and could not work out how he was doing it. We got talking to him and it turns out he’s a magician living in Vegas. He’s been in several shows on the Strip and also works the cruise ships. We got a great free show as he spent most of the flight practising his tricks.

We land around 7:00pm and get through security and get our luggage pretty quickly. Only have to wait a few minutes for a taxi and we’re off. Driver helps with luggage, speaks English and doesn’t go through tunnel so he gets a good tip! Even though it’s only 2 years since we were here the skyline has certainly changed – they’re making great progress with the City Center development ( I hope they can sell all those condos) and Westgate Towers is springing up. Also I’m sure that tower with Trump on it wasn’t here last time. And am I seeing double or are there 2 Wynns and 2 Venetians?

Get checked in to a nice one bed apartment on the 11th floor at Polo Towers with a great Strip view. Our unit had recently been refurbished and had a living room; full kitchen with all new appliances; bedroom with comfy kingsize bed; bathroom with whirlpool tub and a small balcony with great views towards Paris %26amp; Bellagio. I know some of you do not like timeshare but it works for us. We own 2 cheap resales in Spain which we swap through Interval International and have stayed in great accommodation in both Europe and US. For the length of time we’ll be away we want more than just a hotel room and it’s nice having a whole apartment to spread ourselves out. Also to stay in a decent hotel on the strip for 2 weeks would be just too expensive. But we do agree with you all, the timeshare touts who hassle you on the Strip are a pain in the b*tt.

Unpacking can wait till tomorrow. We’re in Vegas and it’s 8:30 in the evening and we want to go to a casino! Forgetting that we have now been on the go for nearly 24 hours we have a quick wash and change then we’re traipsing over that bridge to New York, New York – one of our favourites from last time. It’s great to be in a casino again – we have casinos in the UK but they’re nothing like the ones in Vegas. We are not big gamblers but we love putting a few dollars in the slots – especially the “penny slots” with the fun bonuses. Well we play the slots for about half an hour and then the inevitable happens; the tiredness kicks in! I’ve barely got the strength to push those buttons and A looks like she’s about to fall off her stool. We grab a hot dog, cinnamon sticks and homemade lemonade, stagger back to Polo Towers and straight to bed.

 

Trip Report - - - Day 2 Monday 28 April

Lady, where’s my car? Free buffet; up on the roof; car at last; Mexican? No make that Chinese; fountains.

Considering how knackered we were last night I’m surprised that we’re up and raring to go at 7:00. I always wake up early – even on holiday (much to A’s annoyance).

We’ve only just got out of Polo Towers front door when we’re pounced on by this guy asking where we’re from and giving us coupons for restaurants etc. Usually I do my deaf and dumb act and carry on walking but he must of caught us at a weak moment as we start talking to him. Would we like free tickets for the dinner show at Excalibur – I’d sooner have needles stuck in my eyes! Would we like free tickets for the buffet at Monte Carlo plus $100 slot play each? Now he’s got us – I’m quite partial to a buffet especially if it’s free. Well we agree to go to a 90 minute (no, we didn’t believe that - it’s always at least 3 hours!!) presentation at the Grandview timeshare in exchange for all the freebies and make an appointment to go tomorrow. We did explain that we already own 2 timeshares and will not be buying any more but of course he said that’s fine.

Walk to the MGM as that’s where we’ve arranged to collect our rental car – we didn’t arrange to pick it up from the airport yesterday as we knew we’d be too tired to think about such details as driving on the wrong side of the road and finding our way to the Strip. Well we’ve remembered how big the MGM is and have allowed a couple of hours to get to the car rental desk! Grab some Starbucks (yes I am a caffeine addict) and start to walk through the Casino. There seems to be more penny slots than last time we were here so we have to stop and lose a couple of dollars. Walk through the very impressive foyer to the Dollar car rental desk. Problem! We had booked our car through an online agency and when the Dollar lady put our code in it didn’t show any insurance included. We had actually paid quite a lot as they said all required insurances were included but, computer says no! Nice Dollar lady said we could have our car if we paid an extra $891 for the insurance or drive it uninsured. Disaster! We didn’t want to pay the extra $891 as we’d already paid nearly that much and it did say on our voucher that we’d paid in full and all the insurance was included and definitely didn’t want to drive without insurance. Also that would have made a big hole in our spending money! We agree to come back at 4:00pm by which time she would have spoken to someone who knows what they’re doing and sorted out our booking. We are not happy!

Decide to go and see if they are still doing the TV preview thing as we enjoyed it last time. They are and we get in to one straight away. They ask us to review the pilot for a program called 11th hour which is one of those implausible shows about a scientist working for a secret government agency investigating crimes with a scientific aspect – just to make it interesting they’ve given him a beautiful blonde bodyguard. Episode shown was about cloning and I thought it was great – very exciting. A didn’t like it and thought the characters weak which is strange because usually she watches this type of programme and I don’t . Wonder if it will ever get shown.

Back to Polo Towers have some lunch and then go and sit by the pool. Their pool is up on the roof and it’s pretty hot up there. I’ve had enough after about 30 minutes A stays out about an hour longer (in the shade).

Go back to Dollar and she’s sorted out our booking and has a car for us and yes, all insurance is included. Slightly disappointed as it’s not the Jeep we had booked but they’ve given us a brand new gold Toyota Highlander. Big car – 2 of us don’t really need 7 seats. Still it’ll have plenty of room for all the clothes we intend to buy and it will be nice and comfortable for our drive to the Grand Canyon.

Set off to do our grocery shopping – I know what you’re thinking – these folks certainly know how to have a good time! Completely fail to find Albertsons although I was sure I knew where it was. As usual A drives and I navigate. I’m just saying “don’t worry, Albertsons is on the next corner” when we find Vons. That’ll do nicely. We stock up on coffee, water, breakfast stuff and some toiletries that we hadn’t bothered to bring with. This might sound weird to our US friends but we really enjoy looking round American supermarkets – we’re foodies and find the different stuff you have over there really interesting and of course everything is half the price we pay in the UK.

In the evening we walk over to Monte Carlo – I wanted to go to the new Mexican restaurant but when we got there it was absolutely mobbed and there was a queue. We ended up going to the Dragon Noodle Co. We had the appetiser platter followed by honey chicken, Mongolian beef and vegetable rice. Of course the portions were huge as they nearly always are in America. It was all good with some mean chillies in the Mongolian beef (we like spicy food).

We then had our first proper session on the penny slots (high rollers we are not). We love those penny slots and are happy playing them for a couple of hours every evening. I also have an occasional session on the Video Poker but that requires a little more concentration. At one point we cash out as much as $14 but end up putting most of it back in. We have a couple of free drinks – yes I always tip the cocktail waitress – it’s got to be worth a couple of bucks to be brought free drinks by a pretty girl in a skimpy costume!

Finish the evening watching the Bellagio fountains (song is “This Kiss”). What can we say about this attraction that hasn’t already been said. They are as impressive as ever and I have to resist the temptation to start taking photos of them (I took about 60 pictures of them last time).

 

Trip Report - - - Day 3 Tuesday 29 April

Shop, shop, shop; shortest timeshare presentation ever; Mexican; amazing show.

Go to the outlet mall – the one just south of the airport. A spends a long time in Liz Claiborne and I get several things in the Nautica shop. I really like Nautica stuff but am too mean to buy it in UK where it seems to cost about three times as much. Can’t remember but I’m sure we must have got some other stuff as well.

Get taken to the timeshare place – its down near South Point casino and just past where we’re staying next week. As soon as we meet up with the salesman we tell him we already own 2 timeshares and are not planning to buy more anytime soon, so he sends us on our way! I think he may have overheard us telling someone that the only viable way to own timeshares is to buy “second-hand” and never buy from builder/developer. Oh well, no free buffet for us, still at least we hadn’t wasted more than about an hour of our holiday.

After a couple of hours rest and relaxation we’re ready to go again. We walk over to the Miracle Mile shops and collect our tickets for tonight’s show. We have a walk round the shops and are surprised at just how much of the Desert Passage theme remains – maybe there’s more changes planned? I was looking forward to seeing Planet Hollywood as it wasn’t open last time we were in Vegas. We go in and the place is OK – not bad but not one of our favourite casinos. We’re looking for somewhere to have dinner when I spot Yolos. At last Mexican food! I love Mexican food and it’s one cuisine we don’t see much of in the UK (we have some Mexican restaurants but not many and they’re mostly not very good – probably because we don’t have many Mexicans living here! To compensate we have loads of really good Indian restaurants which you don’t seem to get in America). Anyhow Yolos is a beautifully designed bar and restaurant. Very colourful with great lighting. They bring you chips and dips so we decide to skip the appetiser and just order mains. A had Chicken Tinga Enchilada and I had Carne Asada Ranchero (grilled flank steak with all the usual Mexican accompaniments). Very tasty food, spicy but not blow your head off and not so spicy that you regret it the following day! And great drinks. I had a rather superior Margarita and A had her favourite, a Mojito. It’s funny, at home I would probably be embarrassed to order a “girly” drink like a Margarita but in Vegas anything goes.

Next we go to see the Amazing Jonathan show. We’ve really been looking forward to seeing him as we’ve seen some videos of him on the internet. Last time we were here he wasn’t on (I think he was ill at the time). He is very, very funny doing his warped and twisted magic show. I also love his assistant Psychic Tanya – the ultimate ditzy blonde with a delightfully annoying squeaky voice. Great show. Like a foul-mouthed Tommy Cooper on acid! If you’re not sure if you’d like him check the videos on YouTube. We loved him. After the show we walk through to Paris to try (unsuccessfully) to recoup the money we lost earlier in PH.

 

Trip Report - - Day 4 Wednesday 30 April

Happy Birthday to me; bella Bellagio; culture in Vegas?; Rosemary’s Restaurant.

Well if you’ve got to have a 55th birthday I can think of no better place to have it than Las Vegas. This morning we drive over to the Bellagio. We think this is probably our favourite casino/hotel, it’s beautiful; upscale without being too over the top. We’d like to stay there some time if ever we get a good deal on the room rate. A pops into the salon to see if they can fit her in for a manicure and pedicure and yes they can do her straight away. How can I amuse myself for an hour? I know, I’ll play the slots! Meet up an hour later and A reports that the salon is beautiful, great manicure and pedicure and no more expensive than a lot of more ordinary places.

The Bellagio conservatory is great especially when you think they change those floral displays each season. After walking through the conservatory we pop into Jean-Philippe patisserie for some elevenses. They have the most amazing display of cakes and gelato. A has coffee and cake and I have Rum %26amp; Raisin Gelato. Very nice – don’t think we’ll be needing lunch today.

Next we decide go to the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art where they have an exhibition of American Modernist paintings. It’s a little strange to be doing “culture” whilst in Sin City but it’s a good exhibition. Unlike a lot of galleries you can get close to the paintings in a calm and uncrowded space. We particularly liked some of the Georgia O’Keeffe paintings and watched an interesting film about her life and work.

Tonight to celebrate my birthday we have a table booked at Rosemary’s Restaurant. We chose that place after reading everyone’s comments about it on the forum (thanks guys!!). Not the easiest place to find and very uninviting and deserted looking from the outside. I remember people saying don’t let that put you off. We go through the door to find a really busy, buzzing restaurant. We’re about 5 minutes early and they keep us waiting for our table for about 15 minutes which isn’t terrible considering how busy the place is. Our waiter is Tony and he’s quite a character. If you were to draw a cartoon of an Italian waiter it would look and sound like him! He looked after us very well. He takes about 10 minutes explaining the menu, the various options of a la carte, prix fixe, tasting menu, daily specials etc. Slightly confused we decide we’ll order whatever we fancy and let Tony work out how to price it! Also our Restaurant.com voucher is not valid as tonight is lady’s night and A’s food will be half price anyway. I don’t know why we bothered buying the Restaurant.com vouchers because I’ve a feeling that we’re not going to use any of them! The food is terrific. I start with BBQ Shrimp with cheese slaw and I honestly think that is one of the tastiest things I have ever eaten. A has panko crusted Crab boulettes followed by striped Bass and I have Veal Tenderloin as my main course. We are not big drinkers and as A is driving she just has water. I decide to have a beer and find that their beer list is longer than some place’s wine list. I go for an Orval which is a Belgian “Trappist” ale. Very distinctive hoppy taste which actually went really well with the food. We had no room for dessert so just ordered coffee. I was then given a plate of chocolate truffles with a candle and “Happy Birthday” written on in chocolate. A nice touch and thankfully no embarrassing singing waiters. Excellent and memorable meal and well worth the longish drive from the Strip. It’s a completely different atmosphere from the casino restaurants, more the sort of place you would expect to find in a European city. Check came to about $150 which I thought was pretty good.

On the way back from Rosemary’s we decide to pop into Palms for an hour. It’s ok but we think more suited to the young and trendy.

 

Trip Report - - Day 5 Thursday 01 May

Not more shopping?; afternoon magic; Tropicana then NYNY; Italian tonight

Well we’ve not done quite enough shopping yet so we decide to try the other outlet mall – the one near Downtown. I’ve checked the map and know where the place is so we’ll have no problems. Wrong! After driving up and down the same bit of road twice we decide we need help. Stop to fill car and the guy in the gas station gives us good directions. Surprised that the place isn’t better signposted. When we get there A is upset because 2 of the shops she particularly wanted to visit are not open (one’s still being built and one’s being refurbished). However we manage to spend some money at Izod, Timberland and Eddie Bauer so it’s not a total waste of time!

On the way back to Polo Towers A drops me off at the half price ticket place and we get tickets for Dirk Arthur. Lunch and rest at Polo Towers then off to see the 4:00 Dirk Arthur show at Tropicana. His show is very good for an afternoon show. We actually liked him more than Lance Burton who we saw last time. The illusions with the beautiful big cats were very impressive as was the helicopter that appeared out of nowhere.

We seemed to do quite well at the slots at Tropicana so stayed there for a bit longer then walked over to NYNY. We go to eat at Il Fornaio. I have pasta with Italian sausage and A has Rotisserie chicken which she thought was one the best things over the whole holiday. Food is good satisfying Italian fare and we don’t bother with dessert. Spend our usual few dollars on the slots. Coffee from Starbucks and cakes from the very fancy cake shop for desert later on!

 

Trip Report - - - Day 6 Friday 02 May

Now that’s what I call breakfast; housekeeping; I Love Cirque du Soleil but…

We’ve seen on the forum how you all say that the Paris Breakfast buffet is the best so we have to try it. We’re there around 09:30 and only have to queue for about 20 minutes. It is a really nice setting and there is a huge choice of food. We each had a plate of fruit and if we’d stopped there it would have been a good, healthy breakfast! We had eggs, bacon, sausages, French toast, maple syrup, potatoes, toast, bagels, cheese, more sausages (we were sat near the sausage station), croissant, Danish pastries and about a gallon of coffee each. Don’t know if that’s the best breakfast buffet in Vegas but it’s certainly the most breakfast I’ve ever eaten! We both enjoyed it, all the food seemed fresh – not like it had been hanging round for hours.

Had a good walk round Paris (we like this place) and of course put a few dollars in the slots. It feels really decadent to be gambling in the morning or early afternoon. To me, it’s an evening pastime. Although there’s plenty of people about who look like they’ve been gambling round the clock – and there are those frightening old ladies who seem to play the same slot machine for days on end – receiving nutrition through the umbilical cord of their players card?

Slow walk back to Polo Towers. No we’re not having lunch today. In the afternoon we do some washing. Downside of such a long holiday is you either have to bring a huge amount of clothes with, buy new stuff, or do the washing (or wear dirty clothes!) – we do a mixture of all those things. At least at Polo Towers they have laundry facilities just a few steps from our apartment door. A does the ironing while I update my notes for this trip report – can you tell which days I didn’t make enough notes? Enough of the boring domestic stuff.

Drive up to Mirage to see Love. We really like Cirque du Soleil and had booked these tickets as soon as we knew we were coming to Vegas. I think we were probably expecting a bit too much. Like all CdS shows this one has much to delight and amaze but somehow it left us feeling a little disappointed. The use of the Beatles music was great especially if, like me, you remember it from first time round. We were sat at the back quite high up (sect 205 row T) and found the gauze curtains they use to project images on slightly spoiled our view. I would suggest middle to lower tickets for best view. Don’t get me wrong it’s not a bad show – just not our favourite CdS show. Our fave is La Nouba which we’ve seen 3 times (in Orlando); that one seems to have the best balance of circus skills and spectacle, music, costume etc.

Grabbed something to eat at the Caribe café – A had soup and enough fruit to feed a family of 4 and I had a burger. We actually find the casino cafes a great way to get reasonable food at a reasonable price any time night or day. And of course we finished the day by playing the slots for a couple of hours. We still seem to be just about breaking even – probably cashing out a few dollars every other day.

Trip Report - - Day 7 Saturday 03 May

Town Square? Yes it’s more shops!; Russians on the rocks; let’s hear it for the Monopoly machine.

First stop today is Tix4Tonite where we get discounted tickets to see ICE tonight. Then we’re off to the new Town Square shopping mall. This is actually quite a nice place. Not tacky like the outlet malls. And not ridiculously up-scale like some of the casino arcades. You can imagine “real people” shopping here. We look round a really nice furniture shop (Robb %26amp; Stucky) – I think the assistant thought we were about to order several thousand dollars worth of stuff and have it shipped back to the UK! I find a gambling supplies store where I buy some casino playing cards and some interesting gaming chips (advertising a place called Judy’s…) that will amuse the lads from work on our next poker night. A spends ages and lots of dollars in Sephora and I sneak off to the Apple shop and get myself an Ipod Shuffle for considerably less than it would have cost at home. By now I’m starting to think that A must have been abducted by aliens but no, there she is still in Sephora with people applying several sorts of stuff to her eyes. I pay the ransom and get her back then a quick visit to Borders to top up our holiday reading material. It’s strange but the Borders here looks just like the one in Milton Keynes!

Back to Polo Towers for a brief rest then up to Riviera . ICE is a good show with loads of very talented and good looking Russian skaters. They do stuff that would be impressive even if it wasn’t on the ice; on the ice it seems downright impossible – juggling, riding unicycles, dancing on stilts etc. A enjoyed this show more than me as she is a fan of ice dancing and I’m not. One thing neither of us enjoyed was the uncomfortable table seating. We were the second couple seated at our table and had to sit in a very awkward position to see round the nice people next to us, who were very accommodating. I hate to think how much the poor people behind us could see. If you do this one, pay the extra for the booth seats. This is a show that probably deserves a better theatre.

Get something to eat at Kady’s café and then back to those slots. We’ve noticed that the older, cheaper casinos (Tropicana %26amp; Riviera) seem to have more and looser penny slots. Also cocktail service is better, not that we’re big drinkers but we’ve always been offered a drink within 5 minutes of sitting down at these places. We like the atmosphere at these older places but, you’re right, probably wouldn’t want to stay at one.

Anyhow A is doing better than me at the slots (as usual) until we discover the Monopoly machines where I get the longest, loudest and most fun bonus I’ve had so far – it pays 490 credits and I end up cashing out 500. What a pity it’s a penny machine and not a dollar one! Still a big win for a low roller like me.

 

Trip Report - - - Day 8 Sunday 04 May

Moving day; buy the cat a present; beware of sharks in casino; our new home; old style Vegas – Frank, Barbra and the Peppermill.

Get up, get packed and check out of Polo Towers. We drive down to Mandalay Place and have a walk round the slightly wacky shops there. Go into Urban Outfitters where A finds a wallet just like the one she bought there 2 years ago, so she buys it. Pop into Lush Puppy to get a present for Ruby (cat). Find her a catnip filled cigar which turns out to be a very popular gift. Walk into Mandalay Bay and decide to check where Border Grill is as we have a reservation there next week. It’s a looonnng walk to Border Grill and we decide that as we’re at that end of the place we’ll go see the Shark Reef. It’s quite interesting although there’s no really large sharks. Unsurprisingly it’s not as good as similar exhibits at SeaWorld. OK but overpriced for something you’ll walk round in less than an hour. Walk back to Mandalay Place and decide after all that walking we’re starving! Have lunch in the really nice Italian café there (Giorgio).

About 2:30pm check-in to the Monarch Cancun Resort. Here we have a nice 2 bed 2 bath apartment. I’m not a good sleeper (many years of shift work) and it’s nice if I wake up in the middle of the night I can go to a second room so as not to disturb A. Also we like having 2 bathrooms. There’s a large balcony at this place where we will sit to have our breakfast. Awhile back there was some negative publicity about this resort however we’ve never noticed anything (and A is extremely picky) - everything clean and tidy and as it should be. After unpacking we decide to try the larger of our two whirlpool tubs and apart from it taking forever to fill it was great.

Relaxed and refreshed we set off for the Riviera. Gamble (and lose) for about an hour and then get in the queue to see Barbra %26amp; Frank: The Concert That Never Was. This was in the Bistro show lounge which is tiny but much more comfortable than the theatre we were in last night. A surprisingly good show this is the story of Frank Sinatra back from the dead to do a concert with Barbra Streisand. What makes this show so good is that both the stars really look and sound like the singers they are impersonating. Could have done without some of the cheesy dialogue but you forgave them when they concentrated on the singing. They covered enough of the hits to keep everyone happy and as none of us will be seeing Frank Sinatra live, and not many of us will be seeing Barbra Streisand live this show has to be the next best thing.

After the show we continue the retro feel of the evening by going to the Peppermill Lounge (once more, thanks to all on the forum who recommended this place). This is a great sort of 1970s place – mirrored walls, pink %26amp; purple lights, sunken fire pit with a fire coming out of a pool of water - and all done in the best possible taste! And of course there’s the beautiful cocktail waitresses in full length evening gowns. We have a couple of rather strong Martinis, soak up the ambiance of the place then stagger back to the Riviera to lose a few more dollars!

Trip Report - - - Day 9 Monday 05 May

Lazy day; I swim to the pyramid and back; that’s got to hurt; kill a few aliens; eat loads and then go to the movies.

Today is one of those lazy days where we don’t feel like doing much so we don’t. First stop is the business center where we check our email and send the modern day postcard – an email to all our friends and family.

Next we spend an hour at the pool. Cancun Resort has a great pool, very large and complete with a Mayan pyramid in the middle. I’m not much of a one for sunbathing so by the time I’ve had a swim and dried off I’m ready to get going again.

I have quite a bad cut on my nose! I’m going to tell my friends back home that I got hit while sorting out a couple of rednecks in a bar. What actually happened was I decided to go out on to the balcony but for some reason didn’t open the glass door first. I hit my nose and my head really hard. I didn’t knock myself out but was definitely seeing stars for a couple of minutes. My nose was bleeding inside and out. To add insult to injury, once A realised I wasn’t mortally wounded she found the whole incident highly amusing. But by far the greatest indignity of all was having to spend the next 3 days with a Band-Aid on my nose.

We drive to the local supermarket - only in America would we actually drive to somewhere that was just across the road! We stock up on supplies for breakfasts. In the afternoon we maintain the hectic pace of the day – A reads her book on the balcony while I fall asleep watching Country Music TV.

In the evening we go to the South Point Casino. This a new casino just a couple of blocks south of us. We weren’t expecting too much of this place but it’s actually quite nice, bright and modern with a relaxed laid-back atmosphere. Loads of penny slots. I put a couple of dollars in an Alien machine and cash out $8. If it sounds like we’re winning all the time just rest assured that I’m not telling you about all the times we lose. Eat at the buffet – how many of these things do I have to do before the novelty wears off and I realise that you don’t have to try and taste everything? At least I don’t put it all on the same plate like some folks. It’s quite good, plenty of choice and we eat the equivalent of at least 2 dinners each. It’s not exactly fine dining but for $13.99 each it’s certainly good value.

We’re just trying to decide whether to gamble some more or have an early night when I notice the sign for the cinema. Who would have guessed – a full 16 screen job inside a hotel. Our luck’s in and Iron Man is starting in 20 minutes. It’s a film we both wanted to see (I wanted to see it as I like mindless action films and A wanted to see it as she likes Robert Downey Jr) and we both enjoyed it. Donated a few more dollars to the casino and then called it a night.

Trip Report 26 April to 17 May

I am so enjoying your TR!! Very interesting and informative. Nice reviews on the restaurants---as I love to read about food! Waiting for more...

Really enjoying you TR.I love reading detailed TRs%26#39;.Thank you for sharing all the details.

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed and interesting trip report! It%26#39;s great to see how a longer-than-average trip plays out.

I especially appreciate your descriptions of some of the ';second-tier'; shows... we do go to major shows, but also like to see some of the smaller ones, and I feel like you%26#39;re helping me make up my list for my own three-week trip later this month.

Thanks! Looking forward to the rest.

Great TR. Love the bit about the old ladies attached to the slot machine with an umbilical cord. LMAO

Great trip report. I love all the details.

Defenitely one of the longest Tr%26#39;s I%26#39;ve read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless! Can%26#39;t wait for part 2. I recently moved from So. California to Toronto and am having withdrawls....

great report-

you ate at alot of hotels that I will be near-

Dragon noodle- the honey chicken- how was it? was the chicken overally battered?

price?

Yolo%26#39;s- really good? worth a walk from Mandaley Bay?

Holidaybore---- you actually told the person who first approached you about the ';timeshare crap'; that you already had two and weren%26#39;t interested in buying, and agreed to go anyway,,,and then you made the effort to be wherever you were suppose to be for the presentation,, and then told to go on home??? I mean,, weren%26#39;t you pissed? We did ONE presentation in our Vegas lifetime,, TOTALLY for the free tickets,, buffet,, whatever,,,we were told it would be a 90 minute thingy too,,, and I started squawking... after about 100 minutes,,, I was hungry at the time,, and we left shortly after that with tickets in hand and the buffet etc. I mean you were up front right from the get go,,, and you were prepared to hear their speel etc.. right?.. and then you left empty handed?

holidaybore...loved your TR! I love meeting Brits in Vegas. Glad you had a great time. Planning your next trip?